Disbanding the ATF should make a big dent in the problem . . . Tijuana Police Chief Links Mexico’s Rising Homicides To US Gun Laws

Tijuana’s police chief told KPBS the U.S. should take responsibility for its role in Mexico’s rising violence, which he links to U.S. gun smuggling and lax gun laws.

Statistics from the U.S. Government Accountability Office show 70 percent of weapons seized at crime scenes in Mexico were traced to the U.S., particularly to the border states of California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

“I urge the U.S. to help us by better controlling gun sales and stopping these guns from illegally crossing the border. Because at the end of the day, that’s what’s provoking the violence we have in this city,” said Tijuana’s Police Chief Marco Antonio Sotomayor.

The response to a socialist’s failed assassination attempt is about the only thing Congress has done that gets majority approval from he public  . . . Poll: Majority approve of Congress’ handling of shooting

Congress received mostly high marks for its response to a shooting last week at a Republican baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, according to a new poll released Monday, although those surveyed said overall civility in political debate has deteriorated.

Fifty-three percent of respondents to the CBS News poll said they approve of Congress’s response to last week’s shooting, which left five people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), injured. Twenty-nine percent said they disapproved of the response from Congress.


Changing the world one paper gun at a time . . . An artist created 2,000 colorful paper guns to challenge perceptions of gun culture

The weapons, which include handguns, AK-47 assault rifles, and bullets, are unfurled like flowers and laid out across the entire span of the exhibition hall. They don’t look like representations of things designed to kill—until you look more closely. His goal is to challenge cultural perceptions of war and destruction.

“I produced this artwork, because, after all, there is still military competition, war, and fear in this world,” said Li. “I wonder if my work could make people let go of these obsessions in their mind, and pursue a kind of true peace, a truly beautiful world for mankind without any disputes.”

https://youtu.be/it2xKpfrEtE

Pakistan beats India in cricket match by 180 runs, stupidity ensues . . . Sore losers – India and Pakistan react to the match the same miserable way

According to a report in Dawn, at least seven people received bullet injuries after celebratory shots were fired in different parts of Karachi, because of Pakistan’s victory in the finals. And of those seven were a child and a woman.

“We received seven people with bullet wounds at several government hospitals in Karachi,” said police surgeon Dr Aijaz Khokhar, who clarified that none of the injuries were lethal. …

According to various reports, Indians have been venting their anger out on television sets. It is definitely not a new phenomenon. Time and again, the price for the Indian cricket squad’s incompetence in the field has been paid by innocent television sets.

Clean off . . . World’s Most Famous Gun on Display at End of Trail

You can walk into a thatched roof hut in the middle of nowhere and say, “Go ahead, make my day.” Your hosts will smile and most likely say “Dirty Harry!”

Such is the worldwide recognition and popularity of the Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum wielded by San Francisco Detective Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry series of films that began in 1971. Transitioning from spaghetti western superstar to Harris-tweed wearing gumshoe, Clint Eastwood cemented his position as an iconic film star with this series of films where his revolver was as much of a star as he was. Today it is thought that Clint’s Model 29 is the most recognized firearm in the history of the world. More readily identifiable than any other gun ever made.

Fortunately hospitals in Florida are designated gun-free zones . . . Patient who took trooper’s gun, shot nurse at Ocala hospital charged

A man brought to an Ocala hospital by the Florida Highway Patrol got a hold of a trooper’s gun and shot a nurse Saturday afternoon, troopers said. …

Troopers said a nurse was shot by Jason Gignac, 38 of Summerfield, who got a hold of a trooper’s gun. …

Gignac was in the process of being discharged from the hospital after receiving treatment, and in the process of being arrested by troopers for failing to obey, when he got hold of the gun.

“In the process of this struggle and taking the suspect into custody, three troopers sustained minor injures,” said Riordan.

OMG! Nazis! In Oz! OMG! . . . Man busted for carrying Nazi submachine gun with ammo

Police busted a man carrying a Nazi submachine gun — and 60 rounds of ammunition — during a traffic stop in Australia.

Cops found the World War II-era MP40 submachine gun, ammo and a magazine inside the 40-year-old man’s Holden Commodore after pulling him over in New South Wales Sunday night, the ABC reports.

The gun’s barrel was missing but the weapon appeared to be in working order, and cops will now examine it to see if it has been used in any shootings.

Another view . . . Police Dashcam Video of Philando Castile Shooting Released (Warning: Graphic Content)

It took just 40 seconds for an ordinary traffic stop to turn deadly — from a police officer saying “Hello, sir” to him firing seven shots at a seated motorist.

But the police dashboard camera video released Tuesday adds a visceral element to what police witnesses had described — unnerving even in the context of other police shootings and after a video taken by Philando Castile’s passenger went viral.

Until Tuesday, few people had seen the dashcam video from July 6, 2016, when Officer Jeronimo Yanez killed Castile in Minnesota. It was shown in court during Yanez’s trial.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

106 COMMENTS

  1. And after I saw Jeronimo! shoot Castile AFTER he told him he had a carry liscense I cannot believe he wasn’t convicted. Oh well driving while black…po-leecing while sceered.

    • I’m sorry, but if you don’t have your DL (and insurance card) at the ready long before the copper is at the window, you are one brain-dead stupid POS, who is (knowingly or unknowingly) going to introduce confusion, or at least the possibility for error, into an already dicey situation. As noted by an earlier poster he was stoned AF, so he wasn’t all there anyway, what little he had to begin with.

      Facts are facts, age 12-50 black males are statistically more dangerous than any other group. They’re the 8% of the US population committing 50% of all murders. That’s why cops get nervous. See:Michael Brown and understand they’re smart to remember that. When a dude says says “I have a gun” you better understand that as a threat, nobody with a brain is going to say anything but “I have a CCW permit” or “”I’m carrying legally” or something much akin.

      Castille handled it like a f’n idiot, and as a white guy, I’d not be surprised to get shot for being so g-d moronic.Yo’ tryin’ to be coo fo da bitch, and not doing what any reasonable person would got him killed. Stupid, perhaps a bit sad, but the GF didn’t seem so broken up about it. She gonna get those honkies, or at least, dey money.

      • Yep, that’s a great idea, reaching into your glove box while a cop is approaching, and it won’t introduce any confusion whatsoever, no sir. However, while I agree that Castillo didn’t handle the situation right, why the hell is THAT the standard now? So we’re fine with cops killing people, not because they had a reasonable fear of death or bodily injury, but because “he didn’t listen to me, which scared scared me so I had to shoot him!”? Really?

        • I’ve never seen a stop, let alone be involved in one, where there wasn’t boatoads of time to get license/ins/reg in order at least 30 seconds before the cop exited his vehicle. It’s a process, if you didn’t learn it before you ever drove, shame on your parents/guardians/foster home.

          Reaching for anything once the copper is at the door is a stupid thing to do. If you don’t know that, I can’t help you.

          (BTW:Cops screw up and are corrupt, I have NO problem holding them accountable for that. But this crap of waiting for the cop to ask for your ID, jeebus, that’s just showboating. If the cop lights you up, you damned good and well what’s gonna transpire.)

        • Why the glovebox? Take your license, POI card, registration and CWP and clip it on your visor. You can leave the registration and POI there ALL the time, never a reason to need them outside of your vehicle.

          When you reach for them your hands are never out of view. This is not hard stuff.

        • There have been conflicting reports about where Castile’s gun was. He apparently said he had a gun in his pocket, then that it was in his glove compartment—but there have also been reports that it was in his lap/under his leg. The officer SAW a gun, so it wasn’t in his pocket or in his glove box.

          His girlfriend definitely inflamed the situation. I guarantee they were high as kites as well.

          The photos of the aftermath clearly show a pistol on the pavement—so the gun wasn’t in his pocket or in the glove box. I think he was riding around with a pistol in his lap. Did he reach for it? The level of fear in the officer’s voice, and the “don’t reach for it” command make me think this is the true story.

          I don’t know about YOU FOLKS, but I don’t ride around with my pistol in my lap. I also won’t use those “pistol holster dock” things. Concealed means concealed.

      • 16, many states require that a driver or passenger carrying with a CC license must notify the LEO when the subject of a traffic stop. It isn’t a random act or threat, and as recorded on the tape the words were politely, if nervously, spoken.

        Sliding into dialect to put words in the mouth of the girlfriend seems unnecessarily “FL State Police circa 1970.” Why not just throw in a Separate But Equal joke?

        If it becomes widely understood that after advising a patrolman that one has a gun and license…one will be shot dead in three second…..then traffic stops are going to become much more dangerous for the LEOs. That is not a result we want. Geronomo substituted his feeling of fear for any reasonable measure of immanent threat. That cannot stand. The verdict will prove a mistake.

        • I slipped into dialect, because it was appropriate, she speaks Ebonics. Were it a white redneck I would have broken into “I just done won da lottery! Yeeehah!” Because that is also accurate. And something you have heard at least a million times if you deal with marginally literate inner city folks. I spent about an hour in STL proper today and the “Uh-huh, da city gonna settle, dem n’s is gettin paaaaaid!” was heard about half a dozen times during a stop for lunch, referencing the Mike Brown nonsense, in which the wrongful death civil suit will be settled for undisclosed millions, just to keep the garbage from rioting again. Because it wouldn’t stand a chance of winning in court.

          Watch the video again, and tell me how the cop saw his gun if it was concealed. How did it end up on the ground? Explain to me how, had he been following the procedure that has been accepted practice for time immemorial he would have been reaching for anything. He would handed the cop his, ID and CCW if in a required to identify state. All of this could have been avoided. Which might have been easier, were Castille not quite so blazed. This appeared to be a good stop, with one officer on contact, the other hanging back following direction of the lead. Jeronimo told him not to reach for the gun, I’ve yet to hear the tale of a shooting because someone refused to reach for their ID.

          As I’ve noted many times before, some cops do horrible and/or stupid things. Being trained to shout contradictory commands is one of those things. They deserve to be punished appropriately, and that doesn’t happen nearly often enough. But this is not one of those cases, and the jury agreed.

      • Utter nonsense. I’d bet the vast majority of drivers handle traffic stops the exact same way, fumbling with their wallets and glove compartments only when the cop shows up. Just because you think there’s only one right way to do it does not mean that everybody else is as well prepared. Are you seriously suggesting that cops could shoot a thousand people a day at traffic stops for the exact same behavior illustrated in this case? Apparently so; you seem to imply that this guy got what he deserved and boo hoo hoo if the same thing happened every single time a driver didn’t follow your recipe for success.

        • The reports I read said he was the passenger. Why would he fumble for anything if the girlfriend was driving?

        • He was driving.
          The confusion comes from the way his girlfriend made the video – with a front-facing camera, that reverses the image (it’s a selfie camera).
          What he did wrong was announce that he was carrying, then reaching for his wallet. Telling a cop who is under the impression that he’s approached a car with an armed criminal in it (rightly or wrongly) that you have a gun and then reaching immediately for anything is a mistake – in this case a fatal one.
          We have the luxury of armchair quarterbacking. We see much more than the cop saw. Looked at from the cop’s perspective, it’s a totally different picture.
          Let’s say you’re the cop. You stop a car, and believe the occupant(s) is an armed criminal. You approach (hand on or near your gun – remember, there’s a good probability there’s a gun in the hands of a criminal), and the driver says he’s got a gun, and reaches for, what? A gun? What would you do? wait until a gun’s pointed at you? Sorry, wrong answer.
          And that’s why the jury acquitted.

    • Never mind that fact that this never would’ve happened unless we didn’t have armed uniformed thugs patrolling the streets looking for someone to harass.

      Always apply the same test to a private citizen and see if it passes the sniff test. If, as a private citizen, I flagged you down and approached your vehicle to inform you that you had a tail-light out and I was visibly armed would that not cause trepidation in you?

      Not to mention that by the very act of pulling the guy over the cops created a deadly situation that would’ve never happened had the “traffic stop” never been initiated. If, by the means of having no tail lights, another driver would run into the back of his car then that matter is between him and the other driver. If negligence is found then the driver of the car without the tail lights should be made to pay restitution for the accident. It’s really quite simple.

      Instead we get not one but two people standing along the road, causing traffic to have to abruptly change lanes to avoid potentially hitting the officers, two cars stopped on the side of the road that wouldn’t normally be there and now a fatal mix of guns, fear and unknown intentions on both parties.

      So mind numbingly sad and dumb.

  2. “Today it is thought that Clint’s Model 29 is the most recognized firearm in the history of the world. More readily identifiable than any other gun ever made.”

    No. I love my model 29. But the most identifiable firearm in the history of the world is the AK. Hands down, no argument. And it will likely remain that way for all time.

  3. There are over a million Americans who would pay Australian police good money for that gun, but thanks to a law that was never actually passed and would be illegal if it did, we can’t.

    Have you called your Congressman and Senators to demand NFA repeal yet?

  4. “Tijuana Police Chief Links Mexico’s Rising Homicides To US Gun Laws”

    Of course. Those American guns are sneaking across the border and killing people all on their own. It has nothing to do with Mexicans. Nothing to do with the cartels that are paying off Police Chief Marco Antonio Sotomayor. Nothing to do with the failed Mexican narco state.

    It’s all the fault of the guns.

    What’s that you say? Guns aren’t sentient? Well, neither are Mexican politicians.

    • “[Mexican official says] the U.S. should take responsibility for its role in Mexico’s rising violence.” He’s right, and America should take that responsibility by conquering Mexico (again) and annexing it. The reason we didn’t take all of Mexico after the Mexican American war was Congress didn’t want that many Mexicans in America. It is far past time we correct this racist decision and annex Mexico.

      • We can’t afford to take over Mexico.
        Our own infrastructure will take hundreds of billion$ to repair. Trying to bring Mexico’s up to snuff would be far more expensive.

    • “Nothing to do with the cartels that are paying off Police Chief Marco Antonio Sotomayor.”

      Given the obvious occupational hazards of being a police chief in Tijuana, I think you’re right. But we also have to consider the relative ease that armed criminals have when accosting a disarmed Mexican population. Essentially, Sotomayor is arguing that we should become more like Mexico.

    • Let’s make a deal with Mexico. Deal 1) We make an honest effort to slow the flow of guns to mexico, to include weapons to the mexican army and police. We also turn barry and holder over to the mexican .gov for trial. In return the mexican .gov makes an honest effort to seal the border from illegal crossings.

      Failing that. Deal 2. We deport every illegal we find and just before sending them back across the border we give them an m16 and ammo.

    • If the guns from the U.S.A. are the problem, than why isn’t San Diego having the same problems that Tijuana is having?

    • Also note that the 70% figure comes with this caveat from the GAO
      (Emphasis mine):

      Note: These figures reflect firearms seized by Mexican authorities and traced by ATF, not all firearms seized in Mexico

      Which mysteriously was not echoed in the article. So 70% of guns that the Mexican government thought ought to be sent to US authorities for tracing, trace to the US. This shouldn’t exactly knock anybody’s socks off. I doubt they’re sending the ATF select-fire M4s marked “propriedad del gobierno de Mexico.”

  5. “Today it is thought that Clint’s Model 29 is the most recognized firearm in the history of the world. More readily identifiable than any other gun ever made.”

    Oh come on. That argument is dead and buried. I love my model 29. But the AK beats out any other gun in that category. And it will probably never lose that title.

    • Even just in the US, the AR is far more recognizable than a Model 29.
      The news media has made sure of that.

    • I’ve seen this claim about the mod 29 before, from different quarters. It’s counterintuitive for sure…so counter initiative that it strains credulity well beyond where one ought to accept a claim at face value: How is it that a relatively rare, expensive, specialty hunting handgun could be the most recognized? More so that the venerable AK, which has been around longer, which has been manufactured in at least 6 countries I can think of by license, to include being the primary small arm of both the 1st and 2nd largest armies in the world, which has featured in revolutions, wars, piracy, terrorism, the flag of an African nation, and is so ubiquitous across Africa, Eurasia, the Middle East and all of China and all the Chinese and Soviet satellites and client states, which has therefore featured largely with their enemies, proxies and therefore with the Aus and it’s satellites and proxies…well it is absurd of its face to the point of being a laughable claim.
      As others have pointed out, the Glock and AR patteren rifles are far more recognized even in the Homeland of the 29. POTG don’t even recognize 29 like they do some other designs…
      Considering that a Korean soldier recognizes the AK either as his issued arm, or that of his enemy, depending…that either a Chinese or Russian soldier recognize it as their weapon, that the Indian army recognize it as the primary small arm of their main adversary, that the Afghans see it as both theirs and their enemies, that the African nations all recognize it as the official weapon of their governments, and of bandits and poachers, of police and park rangers…that US soldiers recognize it as their adversaries main weapon, and by extension all of NATO is the same…given that the 29 features prominantly in a few old, if classic movies while the AK has surely had more screen time than any other firearm, and maybe all others combined…

      I’ve begun to ramble..but it’s not easy to cram all the arguments for the AK into a short comment, perhaps impossible. I’ve surely left out very important and major arguments and examples…and I’ve ignored several other firearms that also have convincing and powerful arguments to being more recognizable…the M16 AR15 family, for some of the same reasons as the AK and for unique reasons of its own are surely more recognizable than the 29, as is the Glock family, the 1911 and clones, the Mauser action rifles and particularly the GEW and K98 rifles, the SKS has been made, issued and used in such numbers, for so long, in so many places…the FAL surely needs a mention, the Colt SAA and clones,

      People may associate the .44MAG and Dirty Harry alright…but the Smith 29 is an obscure weapon by comparison to a long list of others- I didn’t even mention Webly pattern revolvers nor the ubiquitous Smith mod 10, the most produced revolver in the history of the gun…Id wager the 29 is not even the most recognized SW handgun in the world, let alone the most recognized gun.

      Extraordinary claims require extroridinary proofs…Id like to see any proof of this truly unbelievable claim.

      • AK Manufacturers: *Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, *East Germany, Egypt, Ethiopia, *Hungary, Iran, *Iraq, Nigeria, North Korea, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Sudan, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam

        *-denotes no longer in production

  6. it’s not the guns that are the problem it’s your criminals snuggling the firearms.. Firearms arnt the problem it’s prick behind the trigger…

      • I used to snuggle with my SuperRedhawk, give it a friendly *scritch* behind the rear sight…

        • From a photo of me at 4 asleep in my bed with a toy revolver and plastic sword, to the fact that I’ve kept a weapon in or near my bed since I was allowed to posses actual weapons, I’ve snuggled a lot of guns, including 1911s, Smith model 10s an SKS and at least one AK..but no model 29s!

  7. Maybe the people viewing the art should start to view the gun not as a feared deadly mind altering idol and instead view them as tools used only in the manner of the people behind the trigger.

    It’s the only proper way to view a tool and then maybe they would find some peace in their lives

    • I expect to see a news report about Putin himself voting in Georgia today. No doubt voting records will show Stalin voted absentee as well.

    • I saw Chelsea Handle-her and Sulu contributed $ in a losers cause…LOL?I guess carpetbaggers are persona non grata in Dixie…

    • Two observations about the results:
      (1) As you move from Dekalb County to Cobb, the vote goes from Democratic to Republican. I’ll leave it to someone who lives there to explain why.
      (2) Across all three counties, voters shifted towards Republican and away from Democratic. This was true even in Democratic Dekalb County,

      Conclusion: The Democrats shot themselves in the foot before the last election. Since then, they have been busy shooting themselves in the other foot. They are unable to accept that the people who go to work every day to keep the country functioning don’t want government to control their lives “for their own good.”

      • “… They are unable to accept that the people who go to work every day to keep the country functioning don’t want government to control their lives …”

        Yep. To me, it looks like the political momentum we had last Nov. is so far holding, 6 months in.

        It’s now taking on the dynamics of a collective mental illness, just feeding and more feeding on itself with more hatred, a self-reinforcing feedback mechanism.

        Sucks to be them…

        *snicker*

      • Two observations about the results:
        (1) As you move from Dekalb County to Cobb, the vote goes from Democratic to Republican. I’ll leave it to someone who lives there to explain why.

        Having been raised in Dekalb county I’ll offer my opinion and observations, the bulk Dekalb county is basically an bunch of low income transplanted intercity neighborhoods mixed with some middle class suburbs (half of whom vote democrat because of their “conscience”)

        Cobb county starts to get more into where the middle class southerners live and that’s why you see a change

        Although a lot of Dekalb county middle class families got (economically) screwed by Barry and Co. Also they are good southerners living deep in the Bible Belt having all this LGBTQ, healthcare, and “social activism” shoved down their throats put a bad taste in their mouth. They didn’t mind voting D when they thought it was being done to help thos disadvantaged communities they were fine but D promoting every minority (and seemingly making up some just to promote them) over the wellbeing of the voter base doesn’t ensure continued voter support

        Also I would bet that a low turn out amongst low income and minority voters didn’t hurt

      • They spent something like 50 million on one shitty little US House seat.

        Estimated over 40 bucks per resident of that district.

        That’s gotta hurt… 🙂

        • The vast majority of that was *their* money.

          It’s hurt them pretty hard, here is a bit of the blowback from the NYT:

          “Democrats came up empty-handed nonetheless. So a party sorely demoralized in November is demoralized yet again — and left to wonder if the intense anti-Trump passion visible in protests, marches, money and new volunteers isn’t just some theatrical, symbolic, abstract thing.

          When will it yield fruit? Where will it translate into results? And at what point will Trump be held accountable for a presidency that, so far, has been clumsier and more chaotic than even many of his detractors warned that it would be?

          With Handel’s victory, Trump caught an enormous break and got fresh hope for his stalled legislative agenda. As he tries to persuade moderate Republicans to support a deeply flawed, broadly unpopular and ridiculously secrecy-shrouded health care bill, he can and will point to the outcome of the Georgia race, in which Handel sided with him and Ossoff pilloried her for it.”

          https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/opinion/georgia-election-karen-handel-jon-ossoff.html?action=click&contentCollection=Opinion&module=Trending&version=Full&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

          • Fox News had the totals at about 30 mil to 20 mil. They had it broken down between how much each candidate spent and how much outside groups spent on each candidate.

            Still a pretty big moral defeat for the Dems. I don’t know what the practical effect will be. I doubt it will matter much in 2018. The way I see it mattering the most is giving Trump political capital (and not taking any away). The left pushed this as a referendum on Trump. Kellyanne Conway thanked them for that. If Trump gains political capital, then he can get more done. If that helps or is perceived to help voters, then they will be more likely to vote Republican.

        • I use to be part of the Georgia 6th Congressional District (made me smile to vote for Newt while Clinton steamed). Then New York lost another seat to Georgia and my house ended up in another district. I will admit it does irritate me to have to drive past two polling places to get to where I vote, but one more vote in Congress, not to mention one less blue vote in the Electoral College is a nice compensation for that.

  9. Does anyone know what kind of holsters are used by the Florida Highway Patrol? That should not have happened.

    • Safariland Level III ALS. I’m almost certain Bill Rogers, its developer, is making inquiries as to how that happened as well. The trooper MAY have unholstered it himself. It will be interesting to see how that shakes out.

  10. I’m quite surprised TTAG hasnt covered the Belgian soldiers shooting a suicide bomber before he could kill, as another defensive gun use of the day. Perhaps you can elaborate more on it tomorrow. Its a perfect example of how firearms sure as hell can help stop suicide attacks. It’s on the BBC website.

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40349654

  11. Didn’t former water walker listen to the sound track from the dashcam video? Yanez was fine with Castile’s being legally armed until Castile disobeyed his repeated command, “Don’t pull it out.” It’s very likely that Castile was stupid rather than criminal. But it’s not fair to expect a police officer to bet his life that it’s the former instead of the latter.

    • He was a criminal. Girlfriend’s panic/shock video clearly states they were transporting weed. Permit or not, he was not a legal concealed carrier. Not saying any of that justifies everything the officer did, but it wouldn’t be hard to spin a reasonable doubt out of it.

      And that’s our justice system’s standard. Reasonable doubt.

      • How exactly is he not a legal concealed carrier? He was carrying concealed, legally, with a permit. Does that not make him a “legal concealed carrier” regardless of what other laws he might be breaking?

        The truth is that, regardless of how you feel about the WoD, we all break laws every day and usually do so without knowing it. Your argument then basically presupposes that there are basically 0 “legal concealed carriers” because we’re all criminals on one level or another and, if we EDC, then we do it while carrying.

        Don’t give the antis that kind of ammo.

        • You’re right, don’t give that ground. Know the law and obey it to the letter when carrying. Or at least don’t break the obvious ones, like possessing/transporting illegal substances which you know are illegal.

          As I’ve said before, early interviews imply that his family thought passing a NICS check was the same as having a CCP. Minnesota denied any record of him having even applied for a carry permit. Similarly, I knew quite a few dishonorable discharges (more than a couple in basic training) who honestly thought, and acted on, the idea that “weed is only illegal for white people.”

          You break fewer laws day-to-day than you think, and even fewer willfully. If you’re the type to casually violate minor statutes because you don’t care to take the time to learn about them, then yes, you might even commit a felony eventually. And if you do so while in possession of a firearm, then yes, your permit should be considered invalid.

          If Castile used pot before purchasing his “legal” firearm, he was already a felon and the gun illegal (they shouldn’t have needed to add that instruction to the 4473). Argue for legalization all you want, I’ll back you up. Won’t touch the stuff myself, but I don’t see why others shouldn’t have the option. As it stands, however, it is illegal, federally. Known to the officer or not, he confronted an armed criminal in the commission of a crime. The end. Reasonable doubt.

        • I don’t know about Mn but in Fl when your BAC is .05 or you’re under the influence of narcotics, you are not legally armed, CWP or not.

        • From what I have been reading he didn’t have a permit. And even if weed was legal you you shouldn’t be operating a vehicle or handling a firearm while under the influence. I also read that he was a passenger not the driver, so don’t fumble for anything. Here in NY both parties would be arrested immediately for being under the influence while a minor was present in the vehicle. Leandra’s Law (Child Passenger Protection Act)

        • The proper argument for him carrying illegally is that he was a habitual user of marijuana. Thus he was a prohibited person. As a prohibited person, he was barred from possessing a firearm.

  12. 70% of guns traced come from the US. If the markings show that a gun was stolen from a Mexican federal armory, do they ask the ATF to trace it for them?

    • The last time this kind of number came up and w as represented as X% of firearms recovered at crime scenes were from the U.S., the actual statistic was that 70% of firearms recovered from crime scenes which the Mexican government asked the ATF to trace were from various south western gun stores. Presumably the Mexican government did its oown trace first, and only asked the ATF to trace those guns whose origins it could not determine.

      • There was a breakdown of this year’s back in… I want to say the WSJ. The ATF was good at tracing the guns they were asked to trace but those guns amounted to something like 7%-10% of all guns recovered by Mexican authorities.

        By the time you really got into it successful ATF traces accounted for around 5% of all guns recovered in Mexico.

        • I believe it was in 2009 that the infamous “90%” figure was extrapolated from a report done by the ATF. The actual numbers broke down like this: Mexican law enforcement put out a report at the end of the year stating that they had recovered approximately 29,000 firearms at crime scenes. Of those 29,000 guns, approximately 6000 were of commercial origin and still had a serial number visible. Mexican LE sent these 6000 guns to the ATF for tracing and the ATF reported that 90% of the weapons originated in the US. Democrats and Anti-gun organizations jumped on the 90% figure and still use it today. The actual percentage would be somewhere around 16% of weapons recovered for the year. The rest of the firearms were military and/or government issued, mostly from South and Central American countries whose armies don’t keep too close an inventory on what they have.

  13. Folks in that part of the world take their Criket very seriously! I finally got to understand the game on the last trip to Africa. After that, it was fun to watch.

    Now how are the Aussie police gonna see if that gun was involved in any shootings without a barrel? Good grief.

  15. ‘Statistics from the U.S. Government Accountability Office show 70 percent of weapons seized at crime scenes in Mexico were traced to the U.S.’ – I believe that statistic was that 70% of the weapons THAT COULD BE TRACED at crime scenes in Mexico were traced to the US.

    “I wonder if my work could make people let go of these obsessions in their mind, and pursue a kind of true peace, a truly beautiful world for mankind without any disputes.” – Si vis pacem, para bellum.

  16. Oh look, magical thinking again. How old is this guy? 4?

    “I wonder if my work could make people let go of these obsessions in their mind, and pursue a kind of true peace, a truly beautiful world for mankind without any disputes.”

  17. [snip] Because at the end of the day, that’s what’s provoking the violence we have in this city, [snip]

    I would argue that the violence in Mexico is being fueled by the insatiable American appetite for drugs, and the enormous profits that result. The fact that the Mexico-US border can only be described as porous (without reaching for a thesaurus) merely ensures that the radical capitalists on both sides are able to meet demand without too much trouble.

    • Furthermore, legalization would go a long way toward removing the criminal element. I get the impression that wasn’t your point, and that you were probably going the opposite direction, but that’s the simple truth of it.

      • Actually, I do support legalization of all narcotics. If you’re foolish enough to stick heroin in your arm, that’s your problem. Just don’t come running to me for $ to un-foul up your life. And I say this having buried my nephew, thanks to his use of meth.

        • The only problem I have with your statement is all the doctors who hooked people on opiates. I’m not going to blame someone for trusting a doctor’s advice.

    • Partially true. The gangs have diversified. Kidnapping for ransom is a popular past time as is killing police just for fun and robbing the peasants.

  18. “Statistics from the U.S. Government Accountability Office show 70 percent of weapons seized at crime scenes in Mexico were traced to the U.S., particularly to the border states of California, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.”

    I believe that this is a misquote. A large number of firearms THAT ARE TRACED come from America. But not all are traced. Mexico only submits what it wants to for tracing.

  19. “I produced this artwork, because, after all, there is still military competition, war, and fear in this world,” said Li. “I wonder if my work could make people let go of these obsessions in their mind, and pursue a kind of true peace, a truly beautiful world for mankind without any disputes.”

    Teh stoopid…it HURTS….

  20. The Officer told him to take his hand off multiple times. Before that he said don’t reach for it. From experience just keep your hands on the wheel and wait for instructions. The officer was in the wrong position though past the #2 post the one between the front and rear doors. He should have been making him turn and look out the window to talk and to pass him anything.
    It’s different in the setting he was in too an urban area will result in a different response from a rural setting. I am in a more rural area and would not have an issue with them telling me they have a gun in the car as long as they tell where and don’t reach in that general direction. If I was uncomfortable with the weapon being near them possibly ask them to step out. If their license wasn’t with them but still in the car just run them by name and birthdate.
    Still by the video with the clear instructions he gave him it looked like a justified defensive shooting. A jury of his peers in court acquitted him as well. It’s possible if I was in the same position he was I might have made the same decision.

  21. Dear Chief Marco Antonio Sotomayor,
    If you didn’t let the hard drugs flow north, you would not likely see so many guns flow south. If your national law allowed the average law-abiding adult to purchase an effective self-defense firearm, the cartels would not be so bold. We have lots of firearms in my region of Pennsylvania. We do not use them for crime, but for sport, and with the knowledge that under duress the firearms can also be bought out to and local stability as the police work to restore civil order.

    Guns from the US are not your problem. It is the absence of guns in the hands of the law-abiding, and the corrupt behavior of state and national political figures….and the eagerness of many local men to enter the drug business…..that is your problem.

    I wish you godspeed in coming to see that the basis of peace and the rule-of-law flows ultimately from keeping power (including guns and ammunition) well-dispersed among the law abiding. This theory is more sound than the one you apparently rely upon.

  22. With regards to the Castile shooting:

    This is one of those things where I think some actual standards would help. I’ve asked about this and I’ve received the following advice from various LEO’s:

    1) Remain seated in the car with your hands on the wheel until the officer tells you to produce your documents. Moving around and gathering things can make some cops, depending on how they were trained, suspicious that you’re preparing to launch an attack or are trying to hide something.

    2) Have all documents ready to be presented before the officer arrives at your window. This will reduce the time it takes to get everything sorted out, put the officer at ease and reduce your chances of actually getting a ticket provided you’re also courteous to the officer.

    3) When pulled over at night place both hands outside the window so that the officer can see them as he approaches.

    4) Never put your hands out the window because that’s what they teach convicts being released from prison and it immediately raises the suspicion of the officer that the vehicle is stolen since your tags come back clean but you act like a con before they can identify you.

    5) Place your necessary documentation above your sun visor so that you don’t have to go to your glove box.

    6) Don’t place your documents above the visor because that’s where some people keep their drugs and it makes it look like you’re trying to hide something if you touch it before the officer gets to the car.

    That list goes on. So, I ask, WTAF are you supposed to do? Asking only gets you different answers all of which are contradictory. It’s like when the cops show up at a scene and they all start screaming different commands. This is a training issue for police. They need to standardize their policy so that we, the citizens, have some idea of what they want during a traffic stop.

    Personally I keep my insurance and registration information above my visor and often place my wallet in front of the stick in my car. However, I don’t always keep my wallet there for short trips which means I’d have to reach past my gun to get my wallet in those cases. Then again, I don’t get pulled over that much (last time was 2009) so I don’t really worry about it that much.

    • At night, the *first* thing to do is immediately turn on the dome light and pull over. Keep hands on the wheel, don’t gather documents until he-she says to.

      Moving around after you turn on the light indicates you may be hiding something, as I was told.

      EDIT – We have some Hillary news:

      “Hillary Clinton faces the loss of her security clearance as the State Department confirmed months of speculation that it had opened a formal inquiry into alleged mishandling of classified information on her private email server.”

      http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-20/state-department-opens-probe-hillary-clintons-mishandling-classified-information

      • Why the hell does she still have one in the first place? She doesn’t have a “need to know”.

        • It’s common for former officials to maintain a security clearance so they can be asked for advice from the current administration.

          In other news, the Obama presidential library is in illegal possession of a bunch of government documents. I’m pretty sure that is a felony violation of the records act. A lawyer should know better. (Hillary and Obama are both lawyers, so I find it patently ridiculous that they don’t know about the laws they are violating. They were briefed on them).

    • 16V will be right along to say you’re a moron and your pappy didn’t teach you right.

      There is no right answer because they’re all kinda right.

      I’m sitting there with the hands on top of wheel and the cop can just cool his F’n heels for the whole 3 seconds that it would take for me to get my wallet out after he asks for it.

      • Sorry, I call them as I see them. It hasn’t been the Andy Griffith show for quite a long time. With (a portion of) paramilitary police trained to maintain control at times, are you seriously suggesting that you really are not prepared to be stopped any time you drive? Not to mention being in a likely sketchy ‘hood, driving a standard issue hooptie with 2 brake lights out, weed, the mouthy gf, all of those things that should make one more cautious when being lit up, not less.

        So, dad (or mom) sends kids out without teaching them why it’s smart to wear a belt, not be drunk, and when the cop gets to the door he can see your hands and documents, are you offering that as an example of good parenting then?

        Docs and hands before he steps out of the cruiser. If the cop’s in some all-fired hurry, hands.

        • If I have reason to be on the road after midnight, I put my wallet on my dash. (Their is a tray there, so it won’t slide around). I also plan on not rolling down windows more than enough to hear and be heard. Cops always smell the odor of an alcoholic beverage. I’ve seen DA’s push DUI charges when blood tests come back negative.

          Everybody breaks traffic laws constantly. I’ve never heard of a cop pulling someone over on a lot of these laws unless the cop thinks the person is drunk.

    • Contradictory or ever-changing rule usually mean only one thing: “I, (insert title of authority figure), shall not under any circumstances be held responsible for anything.”

    • Cop asks for ID.

      You inform cop that you are legally carrying.

      Cop freaks out, demands ID while demanding you don’t reach for your gun.

      Cop shoots you for not complying with one demand ‘correctly’ and/or for not complying with the other one at all.

      The Castile shooting is not all that different from the South Carolina gas station shooting from 2014: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/25/justice/south-carolina-trooper-shooting/

      The contact complies with the cop’s demands, but in an unexpected fashion, and gets shot as a result.

      Standardization would go a hugely long way to slowing the response enough to make good decisions on both sides. Had the officer in the Castile shooting taken two steps to his right, he would have been a near impossible target from his perceived threat and could have used that cover/time to reassess the situation.

  23. “The gun’s barrel was missing but the weapon appeared to be in working order”
    I have numerous guns, none of which can be described as “in working order” when deprived of their barrels. WTF?

  24. I agree with the Yankee Marshal. Gun owners won’t raise a fuss against a murder on one of their own if the victim is a black man. Too much BLM hatred has warped the Fudds’ racialist brains.

  26. “The gun’s barrel was missing but the weapon appeared to be in working order…”

    Apparently, in order to graduate from journalism school today, you must prove you can construct a sentence that is self-contradictory on its face.

    • Indeed. This is the state of journalism today.
      Gone is the day of experts in journalism, and in its place is the editor who thinks he knows about everything.
      TV news is the worst: What’s on the teleprompter is what goes out. How the hell can any one talking head be claimed as the “most trusted” in any market? They all just read what’s written for them.

    • There have been at least a couple 1st degree homicides committed with revolvers having no barrels. This is the only case I know of where the chamber is not connected to the barrel. The above murders are usually at point blank range, so power and accuracy is less important, plus you lose the lands and grooves markings on the bullet.

      Having served on a CA jury w/ firearms issues, some of the laws here refer to “operable” firearms. So the firearm does not have to be fully assembled, but it must be operable.

  27. Hospitals in Florida are only gun free zones if the management decides to make it gun free- there is no law making it mandatory.

    If they decide to make it a gun free zone, you can carry, but if you get asked to leave, do so pronto and there won’t be any problems.

    If the hospital does have a dedicated mental health ward, then it is most definitely illegal to carry.

  29. The vast majority of cartel guns come either from the vast reserves of central America where small arms from every corner of the globe were dumped in the 70s/80s or from the Mexican government itself..

    Admittedly a decent number of pistols cross the border from north to south (handguns being rather scarce in central american arsenals)

  30. A N O T H E R case of “We’re F’d up, we need to fix you”.

    The U.S. has ~ 1000x the guns of what’s in Mexico. Hell Oklahoma probably has 100X the guns, if not, we’ll try harder.

    The problem is some of your people suck, and you can’t control your imports and exports or your own immigration and emigration, and you kneel at the feet of your cartels. . . that’s why WE need a wall.

  31. ““I urge the U.S. to help us by better controlling gun sales and stopping these guns from illegally crossing the border.”
    If the Mexicans want less contraband coming into their country, maybe they should build a wall.

    “Police busted a man carrying a Nazi submachine gun — and 60 rounds of ammunition — during a traffic stop in Australia.”
    How do the police know the gun’s political leanings?

  32. The cop in the castille shooting completely lost his cool. Hyperventilating and shouting obscenities, he was barely able to function afterwards. The guy should be fired for that alone.

  33. Dear Mexico,

    Do something about all those drugs somehow making it over the border here, and we’ll talk.

    Oh, you can’t do that, because black market demand will cause smuggling that you can’t stop?

    Oh well.

  34. Appears to me that the cop panicked, freaked-out and murdered that guy. He admits he didn’t see the gun, but was just scared. Being a cop is a difficult and stressful job, but doesn’t make it acceptable to shoot someone for informing you they have a pistol.

  35. In other news, who do ya got in Mayweather vs McGregor? comment +1 here if you got Mayweather

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